Where's Larry? There's one source conspicuously absent from Donnelly's article: Lawrence Summers. The Harvard president either wouldn't be interviewed, or wouldn't be interviewed on the record. Meanwhile, Stephen Hyman, Summers' #2, is forced to make excuses for his boss—excuses that will stain Hyman's reputation permanently.

Why wouldn't Summers speak? After all, whenever there's good news—about, for example, Harvard's financial aid program (as opposed to its AIDS program)—Summers is more than happy to be quoted on the record. In fact, he insists upon being quoted in those articles.

This story, however, is bad news, and Summers wants to disassociate himself from it. Given the precarious condition of his presidency, he can't afford bad news. So he shovels responsibility onto an underling.

It would be impressive if Summers stood up and said, "I'm the president. This is my responsibility. The buck stops here."

Instead, he leaves the impression that he is more concerned with saving his own ass than doing the right thing....  ¶ 11:13 AM